Holy Diver
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Antwerp and first months of war as Central Powers

Sun Jun 11, 2017 5:41 pm

How do you deal with Antwerp forts? Do you take it or leave it at the beginning. I wanted to take it as quick as possible but it require lots of forces and it takes many months of besieging. It takes many casualties as well.

Also what are your opening moves and strategies for the first months on western and eastern fronts. On eastern front am always getting quickly outnumbered by Russian forces.

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Durk
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Re: Antwerp and first months of war as Central Powers

Mon Jun 12, 2017 3:18 am

Trying to do the historical German sweep through Belgium is a serious challenge, but it can be done, almost. Mask Antwerp with a small but sufficient corps. Antwerp is not necessary to your line of supply nor does it hinder your advance. The worst thing that can happen in Antwerp is that the British reinforce, but this is also a best thing as you have fewer forces to face in your mad plunge toward Paris.

I am fairly historically driven in my play, so in the west I just hustle as quickly as I can toward Paris. In the east I hope for the historical. My Germans select one Russian army and focus upon its destruction. My Austrian forces make a modest advance, usually I select Serbia with a defense on the Russian front, but if you are having issues with Russia, change your deployment to focus upon Russia. One of the great things about this game is the deployment options. If Austria goes defensive on the Serbian front, they have a very decent force versus Russia.
I do send my German reinforcement units to the east. Because options conspire against Germany if it crosses into Russian territory, I usually hold off doing such until I can reinforce the east.

Wonko
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Re: Antwerp and first months of war as Central Powers

Tue Jun 20, 2017 4:24 am

Agreed, all you need is a corps to mask Antwerp as you make your push south. It's really, really hard to take early, unless you don't plan on pushing into France. It requires a full army, and you'll take a LOT of casualties.

I usually pull my super heavy artillery out of the armies and attach them to the corps masking Antwerp, just because they are a PITA when you're trying to advance. If you get lucky, you can get a few breaches in the fort. Once your advance peters out, you can pull an army north and assault it a few times through the winter.

I haven't tried blockading it with the HSF, but that's another option to prevent the Brits reinforcing it. You won't really impact supply (even with Easy Supply off), because there's a larder in the fortress (and usually a supply wagon as well), so don't waste your time trying.

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